I have the stock 18 inch wheels on my M3 - they have a thick application of gray paint, as you know. Unfortunately, I have a large stone chip on one of them. Does anybody know a good touch-up paint to match? I did a search but couldn't find anyhing. Thanks!

I have the stock 18 inch wheels on my M3 - they have a thick application of gray paint, as you know. Unfortunately, I have a large stone chip on one of them. Does anybody know a good touch-up paint to match? I did a search but couldn't find anyhing. Thanks!

Sorry to have to tell you this...but you won't be able to find any 'touch up paint' to color match the Dark Graphite finish on the OEM 18's...

That's because it doesn't exist...

The Dark Graphite color on those wheels is a rather complex (multi-stage, multi-color) finish, and it's virtually impossible to duplicate outside of the factory. Knowing the intricate details of how this is done, I would advise you to just buy the closest touch paint color you can find at a nearby autoparts store.

The factory process used, is very similar to what BBS does to produce their highly sought after Diamond Black wheel finish. You can't buy 'touch-up' paint for that color either...

Just touch the stone chip up the best you can. That's the best you will be able to do.

Sorry to have to tell you this...but you won't be able to find any 'touch up paint' to color match the Dark Graphite finish on the OEM 18's...

That's because it doesn't exist...

The Dark Graphite color on those wheels is a rather complex (multi-stage, multi-color) finish, and it's virtually impossible to duplicate outside of the factory. Knowing the intricate details of how this is done, I would advise you to just buy the closest touch paint color you can find at a nearby autoparts store.

The factory process used, is very similar to what BBS does to produce their highly sought after Diamond Black wheel finish. You can't buy 'touch-up' paint for that color either...

Just touch the stone chip up the best you can. That's the best you will be able to do.

FWIW, Space Gray touch up paint is fairly close to the 18" wheels. The base coat looks a little lighter than the original paint, but it gets a little darker and closer in tone if you add the clear on top. From some angles it is almost perfect, from others it is a little bit lighter/more silvery. Not sure if that is due to reflectivity. Might be able to play with how much metallic flakes get applied to make it lighter/darker (it is dark gray paint with metallic particles that kind of "float" to the top as it sets - it looks too dark on the brush, but turns out OK).

FWIW, Space Gray touch up paint is fairly close to the 18" wheels. The base coat looks a little lighter than the original paint, but it gets a little darker and closer in tone if you add the clear on top. From some angles it is almost perfect, from others it is a little bit lighter/more silvery. Not sure if that is due to reflectivity. Might be able to play with how much metallic flakes get applied to make it lighter/darker (it is dark gray paint with metallic particles that kind of "float" to the top as it sets - it looks too dark on the brush, but turns out OK).

That was the other color choice I was considering, so if someone tries or has tried it and gets good results, it would be good to know/compare. I decided to go with space gray over sparkling graphite based on pictures posted on this site, which looked like sparkling graphite was darker than the wheels with a bit of purple in it.